Sony's Creative Center collaborated with the global furniture brand Stellar Works for an exhibition at the "NYC x DESIGN Festival" (held May 19-25). Under the theme of "STAYDREAM-a surreal reality", the Creative Center exhibited various interactive concepts and furniture prototypes incorporating sensing technology.
Positioning itself as Sony's "Creative Hub", the Creative Center scope is limitless, and actively promotes collaboration between businesses both inside and outside Sony Group. For this edition of the Sony Corporate Blog, we interviewed Hirotaka Tako about his experience in leading the Creative Center's work for the "NYC x DESIGN Festival".

ーWhy did you decide to participate in a design event in New York for the first time?
Please tell us about how you initiated the collaboration with the global furniture brand Stellar Works.

Previously, the Creative Center has participated in Milan Design Week, the London Design Festival, and Design Shenzhen and has held exhibitions tackling the question of how to get closer to people by leveraging the power of creativity, technology and interaction.

As the Sony Group expands its business domains to include augmented reality, virtual reality, mobility, and space, our latest theme is "Expanding Kando Space." Last year, at the London Design Festival, we held an exhibition called "INTO SIGHT", where one could experience a virtual world without having to wear VR goggles. On this occasion, we took on the challenge of developing the concept into a living space in a more concrete form.

Sony sought a partner with indispensable experience in creating furniture and living spaces.
The prototypes were created in collaboration with Stellar Works, with whom we have associated with for many years, and exhibited at a design event in New York, the home of the hospitality business, in order to see the reaction of people in the interior and hospitality industries.

Hirotaka Tako Creative Director / Head of Sony's Design Center Europe
Joined Sony in 2003. From 2006, he was stationed in the UK for four and a half years, where he was involved in the development and design of products for the European market, and exhibited at the Milano Salone twice. After returning to Japan, he was in charge of comprehensive creative direction including product design, communication design, and user interface design in home audio category such as TV, R&D and new category. Incumbent for 20 years.

ーCan you describe the exhibition?

The theme of the exhibition is "STAYDREAM - a surreal reality". "STAY" comes from the concepts of reality and staying at a place, and "DREAM" comes from daydreams and dream space.

In general, hospitality spaces like hotels are dreamlike spaces that are somewhat removed from reality. We endeavored to create a space that is realistic but also liberated from reality using Sony's sound and sensing technology. One of the visuals for the Stellar Works brand features furniture placed in a natural setting, and we took inspiration from this to create a concept of bringing the atmosphere of outdoor nature into an indoor space in a virtual form.

Specifically, the entire Stellar Works showroom was used as an exhibition venue, consisting of seven experience zones where we exhibited furniture prototypes designed by Sony designers and produced by Stellar Works. A series of prototypes named "BYOBU BED (Concept)", "BYOBU Display (Concept)" and "BYOBU Partition (Concept)" were inspired by the functionality of traditional Japanese folding screens and imbued with sensing and audio/visual technology. Also taking inspiration from sculptural forms of nature such as serene landscapes and undulating hills, the prototypes were designed to blend seamlessly into contemporary interiors.

"BYOBU Bed (Concept)" aims to create a comfortable experience with technology that seamlessly blends into the bed. All of the digital content that can be enjoyed in bed is reminiscent of nature, and it also incorporates interactivity element that change images and sounds in real time according to the movements of the users. In addition, guided by Stellar Works, we carefully planned every element of the experience to ensure comfort, including the texture and feel of the fabrics, the position of the legs when stretched, the size of the mattress and even the angle of the pillows.

BYOBU BED (Concept) is said to have been a long-held dream of Stellar Works CEO Hori. With a home theater function installed in the bed, you can enjoy drinks and other activities while being enveloped by dynamic sounds and images just by placing the bed in your home, and it also luxurious space where you can fall sleep in privacy.

In addition, "BYOBU Display (Concept)" looks like an ordinary stone slab at first glance, but it has a built-in display, and when a person approaches, the outside scenery and rain are projected from the stone wall. "BYOBU Partition (Concept)" creates a comfortable ambient sound and atmosphere that makes you feel like you are in nature with the sound technology built into the wooden and fabric panels. Each of these prototypes were created with the image of blending technology into wood and stone slabs.

At first glance, "BYOBU Display (Concept)" looks like marble partition, but one can have a fantastic experience as if looking into the outside world even while staying indoors (left). Urban art is projected in response to visitors' movements (right). Created in collaboration with Technology Development Laboratories, Sony Corporation.

Furthermore, in the "FEAST OF LIGHT" experience zone, which combines Stellar Works' best-selling pendant light "Everyday" and Sony's sensor technology, a sensor installed on the ceiling detects the movement of people and changes the lighting of the pendant light, while gentle music generated in real time plays from "BYOBU Partition (Concept)". Because it is generated depending on the movement of people, the music that plays every time is different. We developed this concept inspired by the idea of having a meal under a large tree where a flock of birds has gathered.

"BYOBU Partition (Concept)" and "Everyday" pendant lights from Stellar Works create a peaceful atmosphere as if one is standing under a large tree where a flock of birds has gathered.

We wanted to show that existing interior products such as "Everyday" can also be used to create completely new interactive experiences through technology. Interactive experiences are commonplace in games and virtual worlds, but wouldn't it be fun if there were interactive devices in the real world as well? For example, imagine you're working at your desk and when you raise your arms to take a break and stretch, you hear the sound of a bird fluttering about.

The first thing you see when you enter the venue is the "BEYOND WALLPAPER" exhibit, which is based on the concept of a living room. The immersive content fuses reality and virtuality: moving a coffee cup on the table moves the moon projected on the wall, and covering an hourglass changes the image on the wall. Visitors can enjoy the dynamic and fantastic scene, enhanced by surround sound by "BYOBU Partition (Concept).

ーHow was the reaction to the exhibition?

The response from the visitors was exceptionally positive. I was especially thrilled when people in the interior/hospitality industry took an interest in the project, and when a hotel manager told us that he wanted to incorporate this experience into his own hotel. I realized once again that New York has an environment that is welcoming of new experiences and recognizes their value.

ーDid you learn anything from the experience?

Through feedback from people in the hospitality industry, such as hotels and restaurants, who have not been directly involved with Sony until now, I understood that there are still many things that we can contribute with design and technology, even in the realm of traditional interior products such as beds and chairs.

Also, when I looked at the visitors, it seemed that while experiencing digital content such as images and sounds, they were also enjoying the experience using all of their senses, such as checking the material of the bed and the texture of the wood and fabrics.

Looking at this, when I thought about the design of the overall experience, I realized that although Sony creates motion picture content and products that deliver it, we have not created a movie theater, a space in which to enjoy that content. In the future, the entire space for experiencing content, such as a movie theater, may itself become the subject of design. Sony is also involved in the design of mobility spaces, and this may be similar to that.

ーCan you tell us anything about future developments?

I would like to continue to engage in dialogue with people outside the company, such as those in the interior and hospitality industries, to find areas where design and technology can contribute to people's lives.
I would also like to share the feedback obtained this time not only with the Creative Center, but also with R&D and the business side, and make use of it in product and service development as a "creative hub" for inter-business collaboration.

In general, I believe that for designers and engineers, collaborating with other companies and exhibiting at overseas events are very good opportunities to take in stimuli and inspiration from the outside and learn more about ourselves. In the future, I would like to continue searching for a comfortable relationship between people and technology through collaboration with people both inside and outside Sony.

Message from Yuichiro Hori, Founder and CEO of Stellar Works

(left) Yuichiro Hori, Founder and CEO of Stellar Works
(right) Hirotaka Tako, Creative Director / Head of Sony's Design Center Europe

"I was impressed by the distinctive and inventive approach to product development that Sony exhibited in this collaboration. Sony's process differs from the regular furniture R&D process, which prioritizes the exterior design and then adapts the internal components accordingly. Sony starts with the selection of the optimal components and then builds a suitable exterior design around them. This alternative perspective unveils new potential and prospects for creating pioneering products across different industries. To accomplish this, we require a team of skilled and diverse individuals who possess creativity, drive, speed, passion, attention to detail and unique values. I am very grateful to Tako-san and everyone else at Sony for making this cross-industrial collaboration possible."

"My vision is to explore the potential of innovation not only by developing new technologies, but also by applying existing technologies to different industries and domains. Furthermore, I aim to create a fusion of the virtual and the real world that can enrich the living spaces with dreams and imagination, and broaden the scope of design. Normally interior design industry mainly focuses on space-based and product-based designs. However, by incorporating Sony's design and technology that can stimulate all five senses, I believe that we can create a more profound and immersive space experience."